Each fall, students are nominated by high schools and community-based organizations for their leadership and academic potential. Posse partner colleges and universities award merit-based leadership scholarships to multicultural teams of 10 students each. These teams (Posses) attend college together.
- Be nominated by their high school or a community-based organization.
- Be in the first term of their senior year in high school. Depending on the Posse city, nominations are often taken between the spring and early August before the new school year begins.
- Demonstrate leadership within their high school, community or family.
- Demonstrate academic potential.
The Posse Scholarship is neither a minority nor a need-based scholarship and is open to students of all backgrounds.
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Posse started because of one student who said, “I never would have dropped out of college if I had my posse with me.” That simple idea of sending a group of students to college together to act as a support system for one another was the impetus for a program that today has become one of the most comprehensive college access programs in the United States.
Vanderbilt University was Posse’s first partner institution and took a Posse of five students from New York City in 1989. Four years after setting foot on Vanderbilt’s campus, all five members of Vanderbilt Posse 1 graduated with honors and accolades.
Since then, Posse has sent 3,720 Scholars to top-tier colleges and universities throughout the country. Nationally, Posse Scholars have won $370 million in scholarships from Posse’s partner institutions and are persisting and graduating at a rate of 90 percent—significantly above the national average.
The Posse Foundation has three goals:
- To expand the pool from which top colleges and universities can recruit outstanding young leaders from diverse backgrounds.
- To help these institutions build more interactive campus environments so that they can be more welcoming for people from all backgrounds.
- To ensure that Posse Scholars persist in their academic studies and graduate, so they can take on leadership positions in the workforce.
The following Colleges and Universities are associated with the regional Posse offices.
- Babson College Posse New York
- Bard College Posse Atlanta
- Boston University Posse Atlanta
- Brandeis University Posse New York
- Bryn Mawr College Posse Boston
- Bucknell University Posse Boston + Posse Los Angeles + Posse D.C.
- Carleton College Posse Chicago
- Centre College Posse Boston
- Claremont McKenna College Posse Los Angeles
- Colby College Posse New York
- The College of Wooster Posse Atlanta
- Connecticut College Posse Chicago
- Denison University Posse Boston + Posse Chicago
- DePauw University Posse Chicago + Posse New York
- Dickinson College Posse Los Angeles + Posse New York
- Franklin & Marshall College Posse New York
- Grinnell College Posse Los Angeles + Posse D.C.
- Hamilton College Posse Boston + Posse Miami
- Kalamazoo College Posse Los Angeles
- Lafayette College Posse New York + Posse D.C.
- Lawrence University Posse New York
- Middlebury College Posse New York
- Mount Holyoke College Posse Miami
- Oberlin College Posse Chicago
- Pepperdine University Posse D.C.
- Pomona College Posse Chicago
- Sewanee: The University of the South Posse D.C.
- Trinity College Posse New York + Posse Chicago
- Tulane University Posse Los Angeles
- Union College Posse Boston
- University of California, Berkeley Posse Los Angeles
- University of California, Los Angeles Posse Los Angeles
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Posse Chicago
- University of Pennsylvania Posse Miami
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Posse Chicago + Posse Los Angeles + Posse D.C.
- Vanderbilt University Posse New York
- Wheaton College Posse New York
If you are interested in more information about Posse Scholarships, you can also contact the local office below:
Posse Boston
45 Franklin Street, 3rd floor
Boston, MA 02110
Tel: (617) 523-4478
Fax: (617) 523-4468
boston@possefoundation.org